With the fans at
Citi Field in no mood to forgive and forget, plenty of boos filled the
air during yesterday’s pregame introductions. The loudest jeers
were reserved for trainers Ray Ramirez and Mike Herbst, in addition to
strength and conditioning coordinator Rick Slate and physical therapist
John Zajac. This after the Mets’ 2009 season was sabotaged by a
cavalcade of injuries.

My guess is that the people booing have absolutely no clue what trainers, strength and conditioning coordinators and physical therapists do for a living. My guess is that they can’t even spell “trainer,” “strength and conditioning coordinator,” and “physical therapist.”

One would hope that the team’s ace turning in a nice performance and the team’s leader hitting a big bomb in what turned out to be an opening day laugher will cause Mets fans to chill out a bit.

I think it was funny/appropriate that the fans booed the training staff even though as you point out they are not actually at fault for last year’s injuries. The Mets fans were voicing their displeasure over the Mickey Mouse management style of the Wilpons. Certainly some of the injuries were unavoidable and part of the game (and very unlucky) but the way in which they handled Reyes, Beltran, and Ryan Church (the year before) was pathetic. The Mets use the same doctors as the Jets and Giants who have no trouble diagnosing and returning to action after rehab. The Mets ownership is always worried about public opinion and they are extremely reactionary. Most of the time Omar is just a figurehead not that I would want him to make too many decisions as I don’t think he is very capable anyway.

Geez, Craig, just enough. Can it. You are so in Ted Turner’s underwear drawer that you hate the Mets like they killed your puppy.
So the fans booed the medical staff. It was more of a “Bronx cheer” style raspberry than it was some sort of classless, ignorant, hostile derision.
You as much as anyone spent all of 2009 piling on the hapless Mets. And, as I’ve noted before, I think one of every four articles you posted this winter jabbed them as well. So when their actual fans (not hates who root for their division rivals) decide to voice their displeasure with a medical staff that had one of the worst years on record and was the butt of every joke imaginable last year, suddenly our entire fan base is immature and shortsighted.
Seriously, Craig…go 10 days without posting an anti-Met comment and I bet we find you curled up on your bathroom floor twitching like a meth addict in withdrawal.

So it’s OK to write several snarky blog posts about the Mets trainers, but not OK to boo them. Because writing blog posts proves literacy, while booing proves illiteracy? I’m confused by this post, Craig.

Someone please cite for me any instance in which I’ve criticized Mets team trainers as opposed to the Mets’ organization decisions regarding player health, such as not giving guys physicals and stuff.
The Mets have had injury problems. To the extent that they have suffered more than other teams it could very well be due to some bad policies in place, dictated by high-level team officials, not the guys who run out onto the field when someone gets hurt. These bad policies have been tacitly acknowledged by the team, which made a well-publicized effort to re-think training strategies this winter.
Booing a guy when he’s introduced on Opening Day is just rude.

I’m sure that I’m wrong, even as I type this. I’m disagreeing with Craig and agreeing with Mets fans.
I refuse to accept the idea that injuries are just a part of the game or simply bad luck. Some teams stay healthier than others — year after year — and it can’t just be coincidence. I don’t know who, specifically, is to blame for the Mets’ injury situation but booing the training staff is a way to say, “This isn’t right. Fix this.” The fans were right, even if the recipient of the booing is the wrong one.
Giving a pile of money to an immobile slugging outfielder Jason Bay’s age is not the solution to this problem.

As one of your resident Mets fans and someone who was there, it was definitely an expression of displeasure directed to the club about the injuries of 2009, their apparently poor management by the medical staff and the team’s overall suckitude in crafting a roster. Dr. Altcheck was not there to get his, so unfortunately the training staff took the hit. They appeared to laugh and understand that it was not personal, although I’m sure it may have stung.
recaptcha for the Wilpons “causes dictator”